Nilgai
From Freepedia
| Nilgai Conservation status: Secure | ||||||||||||||||
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| Image:Nilgai female and baby.jpg Nilgai female and baby | ||||||||||||||||
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| Boselaphus tragocamelus Pall., 1766 |
The Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus also one of several animals known as the bluebuck or blue bull) is a steppe antelope, which displays many ox-like characteristics. It is found throughout India and has been introduced to Texas in 1920's as zoo animals.
Nilgai stand about 1.5 metres at the shoulder and weigh around 170 kilograms. Female Nilgai are yellow-brown while males are grey-blue with white markings on their cheeks, lips, throat and underside. Nilgai have thin legs and a solid body, which slopes down from the shoulder. Their long, narrow heads are topped by two small conical horns. They have a small mane on the back of the neck and a long "beard" which dangles from the throat.
Nilgai live on steppe and woodland areas where they eat grass, leaves and fruit. Nilgai are diurnal. Females and young males gather in herds of about fifteen individuals while older males are often solitary.
Nilgai in India
In northern India, during winter, male blue bulls will congregate into herds of 30 to 100 animals. Blue bull are usually found in scrub jungle (acacia forests) but are not averse to crossing marshlands. Their favoured areas are acacia forests growing upon succulent "kader grass". They will mingle with black buck (Antilope cervicapra)in the open plains, but are also found in the lower Terai regions, where they may be seen together with Chital (Axis axis) and para (Axis porcinus). The chital and para, however, usually keep a respectful distance from the much larger Nilgai. Sambar (Cervus unicolor) do not usually share the same habitat as the nilgai. The main predators of the blue bull are tigers (Panthera tigris) and lions (Panthera leo). Leopards are not capable of killing a full grown blue bull but are able to prey upon female and nilgai calves.
Nilgai originate in India where there are estimated to number up to 10,000. The Texas population is estimated to be around 15,000 individuals. It is categorised as low risk.
Nilgai have been declared vermin in northern India and may be shot in any number provided one is granted a hunting permit. There are probably more like 100,000 plus nilgai in India; one often finds nilgais carcases on major highways in northern India as a result of vehicular accidents. The main danger to this extremely adaptable antelope lies in the loss of habitat due to the pressures of an ever expanding population. No species may be viewed as low risk in India as long as forest cover vanishes at an alarming rate. The nilgai has adapted well but may fall prey to human avarice and political ambitions.
Nilgai in Texas
References
- William J. Sheffield et al., The Nilgai Antelope in Texas (College Station: Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas A&M University System, 1983).
